Is it all right to remove three week old kittens from mom?

My original post:
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Ioana, as long as you handle the kittens as often as possible when mother is away, they will become socialized. They really do need to learn a lot from mother
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Ioana, you know I really admire, you, but I thought you were going to socialize the kittens, not take them away. In my opinion and the opinion of experts, kittens should be with mother for at least 12 weeks. This is the age responsible breeders and cat associations recommend. You could socialize them without depriving them of their mother's attention. I would give them back-for their own good, but keep them socialized. I hope this doesn't hurt your feelings. That's not my intent. I see kittens advertised at 6-8 weeks old, because the general public thinks that's about the right age. I want those who read this forum to know that 12 weeks with mother is needed. I hope mother will take them back. Put them in their old nesting place. They'll cry for mother and pick up the right scent, I hope. I'm sorry to disagree, dear friend.

Quote:
He only feeds the cats sometimes and never takes them to a vet or trys to love them. They all run free and have kittens over and over. Resulting in feral kittens.
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That is the opposite of my recommendations. However, I can only suggest. There is a well known expert on feral cats that does exactly what I recommended. She is, however, on a rival site, so I cannot refer you to my proof. It's a matter of extreme patience, and not every feral cat will become an inside cat, but the kittens CAN be socialized, and the feral mother can have enough trust to give birth to the kittens in a shelter the trusted person prepares. However, this takes time and extreme patience also. My information comes from experts. I would not make this point without researching it first, or having contact with a primary source. The people I know who foster very young kittens do it when mother has died or abandoned the kittens.

I know your intentions are good, and you want only the best for these kittens. My first recommendation would be to trap and neuter the female. However, if that's not possible, it is possible to develop enough trust in the mother cat to have her come for food and shelter. The time that would take, although considerable, would save weeks of hand feeding, which is a poor second choice to a mother's care.